Can Tho (VNA) – The United Nations will continue standing side-by-sidewith Vietnam and providing assistance for its disaster prevention and control efforts,Akiko Fujii, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Country Director inVietnam, has said.

Speaking at a meeting to mark InternationalDay of Disaster Reduction (October 13) and an international symposium themed“Risk Management for Low Lands”, Fujii, who is also Vice-Chair of the UNDisaster Risk Reduction for Resilience Joint Results Group, cited the 2018Global Climate Risk Index statistics as saying that Vietnam ranks among the top10 countries affected by the impacts of natural disasters.

Since the 1970s, natural disastershave caused more than 500 deaths annually in Vietnam and cost more than 1.5 percentof the country’s GDP in economic losses, she said, adding that its nationally-determinedclimate change contribution highlights that these costs could well rise to 3-5percent of GDP by 2030.

“With over 8million USD from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund from 2016 to 2018,the UN in Vietnam was able to join the Government, the Vietnam Red CrossSociety, and non-governmental organisations to assist more than half a millionpeople in addressing urgent and life-saving requirements of water andsanitation, health, nutrition, food security, and shelter,” she said.

The UN and its humanitarianpartners are working with Vietnam to implement lessons learned and improve thedelivery of assistance by reinforcing the coordination frameworks for DisasterResponse Management, such as implementing rapid, detailed Post-Disaster NeedsAssessment, to enable a complete disaster recovery framework, she added.

Nguyen Truong Son,Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority under theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that since the beginning ofthis year, heavy downpours have caused flash floods and serious landslides innorthern mountainous and central regions, leaving 175 dead and missing.Economic losses are estimated at over 12.35 trillion VND (527.1 million USD).

The UN chose “Reducing EconomicLosses” as the theme of this year’s International Day of Disaster Reduction,Son said, adding that this is also one of the seven global targets of the SendaiFramework which Vietnam is exerting its efforts to implement.

At the meeting and symposium,delegates pointed out some of the reasons for serious disaster-caused losses inVietnam, including rapid urbanisation, inappropriate use of natural resources,ineffective land planning, and the neglectful and subjective attitudes ofpeople in flood areas.

Laurent Umans, First Secretary ofWater and Climate Change at the Dutch Embassy in Vietnam, said that disasters areunavoidable, but people can work to prevent them from being a major calamity.

Umans stated that although one-thirdof the Netherlands’ area lies under sea level, the country has not sufferedfrom any major floods since 1953.

The Netherlands is willing toshare its experience and specific solutions suitable for each Vietnameselocality, he affirmed.

Delegates stressed the need forVietnam to carry out close policies in land planning and organise a moresuitable programme for housing arrangement.

It is essential to prohibitpeople from building homes on areas at high risk of landslides and to quicklyevacuate residents in areas which show signs of being affected by landslides,they suggested.–VNA